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Trustee Scholarship recipient Jena Newman ’04 (New Rochelle, N.Y.) is honing her skills in arts technology and computer animation. An art major with a minor in religious studies, Newman is working alongside Lew Minter, media lab director at the Williams Visual Arts Building.
“Jena is combining a number of disciplines for her work,” Minter explains. “She is assisting with setting up and maintaining new computer hardware for video editing and 3-D animation. Our own students as well as visiting artists who are exploring the use of this technology in their work will use this hardware. She is also offering technical support and helping students at our new video and 3-D workstations as well as assisting with printing to our new plotters.”
They are collaborating through Lafayette’s distinctive EXCEL Scholars program, in which students assist faculty with research while earning a stipend. Lafayette is a national leader in undergraduate research. Many of the 180 students who participate in EXCEL each year go on to publish papers in scholarly journals and/or present their research at conferences.
“Professor Minter and I are working on various projects, including a series of pieces based on underwater images,” says Newman. “These include a calendar and other accessories. I’m also making a DVD to promote a visiting artist (Stephen Antonakos) coming to Lafayette. Instead of a brochure, this will be a more technologically advanced way of reaching an audience.”
Newman, who is also undertaking an independent research project in computer animation, finds this work complements her other creative and academic interests as well as her future plans in graphic design.
“I was lucky enough to be offered the opportunity to do EXCEL work, and I was very happy to participate,” she says. “It is a great complement to my thesis work in animation/video and graphic design, and this was one of my motivations for participating.”
“What is especially fun is the collaboration involved on a continuous basis,” she adds. “My project has given me confidence and new skills, as well as confirmed my passion for graphic arts and multimedia.”
“All the disciplines are interconnected and feeding off and supporting each other for Jena’s project,” Minter says. “She’s a busy young woman who is really helping out here as well as learning new skills.”
Newman finds that the resources and mentoring she receives through Lafayette’s art department have helped fuel her creative growth as well as afforded her a pragmatic view of today’s art world.
“Professor Minter has been a great mentor in my work. He is incredibly encouraging, a constant source of inspiration, and allows me a great deal of creativity,” she says.
“Lafayette has been great in providing me with the resources to develop this project,” Newman adds. “The Williams Visual Arts Building has all of the latest technologies and software packages that anyone in my position could hope to work with, and the staff has also been a fantastic reference.”
A graduate of New Rochelle High School, Newman is a teaching assistant for drawing and graphic design classes, a tour guide, and a member of Hillel Society. She has also participated in the Student Hosting program and the Arts Society.
As a national leader in undergraduate research, Lafayette sends one of the largest contingents to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research each year. Over the past five years, more than 130 Lafayette students have presented results from research conducted with faculty mentors, or under their guidance, at the conference.